Thousands Brave Downpour to Hear Pope Hail Local Customs

Pope John Paul II, drenched by a tropical downpour, praised local religious traditions Thursday while firemen drained the bulging canopy above him so that water would not burst through.

Tens of thousands of people turned out in spite of the torrent, chanting in rhyming Spanish: “It’s raining, it’s raining, but we’re staying!”

John Paul appeared relaxed on the final day of a barnstorming tour through the vast interior of Argentina.

He spoke a few phrases through the pelting rain in Guarani, an Indian tongue still used here, to whoops and cheers from the people of this city of 200,000 in far northeastern Argentina.

As he read his sermon at the flooded intersection of two main streets, red-helmeted firemen mounted the platform with long wooden poles and prodded the canopy to get the water out.

An acolyte in a white cassock held a large black umbrella over the pontiff during the visit, but it did little good. John Paul’s silver-gray hair was plastered to his head, and his soaked vestments clung to his body.

The Pope told his listeners that their local religious customs, which include an annual procession for a Virgin known as the Queen of the Guaranis, “are part of the soul” of the area’s people.

Corrientes is near where 18th-Century Jesuit missionaries organized Guarani Indian communities into Utopian socialist communes and armed them against Spanish and Portuguese marauders.

The feat was celebrated in the Academy Award-winning film, “The Mission,” starring Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons.

Talking about missionary work of the past, the Pope said, “The missions and doctrines of the Jesuits constitute, without a doubt, one of the most worthwhile achievements that unified the Spanish, Portuguese and native worlds.”

The Pope will end his two-week tour of Uruguay, Chile and Argentina in Buenos Aires on Sunday.